Apparatus for making knop yarn



ug- 27 1968 E. COLOMBU ETAL. 3,398,688

APPARATUS FOR MAKING KNO? YARN 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Nov i6. 1954 f M w oW m L @W5S/20W VAL VE PRESSURE COA/1 TOL VAVE' Pfc/Mp ATTORNEY Aug- 27.1963 E. c oLoMBu ETAL 3,398,688

l APPARATUS FOR MAKING KNO? YARN Filed Nov. 16, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 nN v E N Tons EUGENE co4 Umea AL Ffo @arse AN/PE ZaHsr'E//v ATTORNEY3,398,688 APPARATUS FOR MAKING KNOP YARN Eugene Colombu, Paris, France,and Alfred Ruiter and Andr Zumstein, Emmenbrucke, Lucerne, Switzerland,assignors to Chimiotex SA., Geneva, Switzerland, a corporation ofSwitzerland Filed Nov. 16, 1964, Ser. No. 411,395 Claims priority,application Switzerland, Nov. 18, 1963, 14,096/ 63 3 Claims. (Cl.103-11) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for producing knop yarnwherein Stich apparatus comprises a pump adapted to supply the spinningsolution for producing said yarn, a hydraulic motor connected to drivesaid pump and two pumps supplying fluid to said motor. A by-pass valvefor one of the two pumps is controlled in response signals from atraveling photographic film. The volume of fluid by-passed varies thequantity of fluid supplies to the motor which in turn varies the rate ofpumping of the first mentioned pump.

The present invention relates to a process for the production ofartificial and synthetic flake and knop yarns by controlling the driveof the spinning pump by photoelectric means with the aid of a hydraulicmotor, the apparatus necessary for this purpose, and also the flake andknop yarns which are produced according to this process.

The process for the production of flake or knop filaments by conveyingdifferent quantities of spinning material with the use of anelect-ronic/magnetic control of a valve in a hydraulic driving system ischaracterised in that the control impulses are producedphotoelectrically and thereby pressure pulses are set up in a first pipeon the output side of a first pump, and these pulses, through a valvepassing in one direction, influence the hydraulic system of the flowsupplied by a second pump and thereby drives at different :speeds thehydraulic motor which is coupled fast to the volumetric pumps an whichis included in this second system. Y

The apparatus for carrying this process into effect is charatcerised bya light source, an unwinding photographic film provided with a code anda photoelectric cell for generating the control impulses, by two systemssupplied by hydraulic pumps, of which the first opens by way of anelectromagnetic valve into an oil reservoir and through a one-way valveinto the second system, and by a hydraulic motor connected into thesecond system.

In the production of flake or knop yarns, which inter alia are verydesirable for the production of fabrics with honan and shantung effects,the irregular distribution of the flakes and knops and the irregularformation of the flakes and knops themselves is of great importance.

The problem thus arises of avoiding as far as possible a periodic changein thickness of the filaments, as this results in a displeasing patternformation of the woven and knitted fabrics produced therefrom.

It has now been found that a programming on a film and the scanningthereof by means of a luminous source and photoelectric cell representsa very simple and advantageous solution of the control problem, and thissolution is excellently suitable for influencing the hydraulicvolumetric pump drive. One particular advantage of this programmingsystem is that it can for example be plotted on the drawing board andphotographed onto photographic film, so that any arbitrary distributionas regards the thickness, length and spacing of the denier fluctuationscan be determined in advance. Furthermore,

3,398,688 Patented Aug. 27, 1968 ice an extremely simple visual controlof the programming and the possible correction thereof is possible.

According to the present invention, therefore, a denier fluctuationprogramme, which is recorded on a photographic film, is transmitted by alight source onto a photoelectric cell or a similar resistance which canbe influenced by light fluctuations and converted into currentfluctuations which, after amplification, actuate a valve arranged in thepipe on the output side of a hydraulic pump, so that pressure pulses areset up in this pipe. These are propagated through a nonreturn valve to apipe on the output side of a second hydraulic pump, into which isincorporated the hydraulic motor which drives the volumetric pumps andwhich is driven at different speeds by the pressure pulses.

The process can be used in the wet, dry and melt spinning processes.When spinning synthetic filaments which are subsequently stretched ordrawn, the denier fluctuations must nevertheless have a certain minimumvalue, so that they are not reduced during the drawing and provisionmust additionally be made for a rapid solidifying of the freshly spunfilaments. Particularly favourable results are however obtained with thewet spinning of viscose.

Furthermore, the process is particularly advantageous for the driving ofcomplete spinning machines or a plurality of machines, since only oneprogramme control arrangement and, for each machine, only one hydraulicdrive, are required, which can easily be fitted in the driving box ofthe spinning machines.

A preferred form of the process and a preferred embodiment of theapparatus according to the invention are now to be more fully describedby reference to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 shows the optical/ electronic control section.

FIG. 2 shows the hydraulic driving section.

FIG. 3 shows diagrammatically a portion of the control film with theassociated Uster-diagram of a knop filament produced therewith.

In FIG. l, the references 1 and 2 indicate the magazine drums for thefilm 3. These can be driven in known manner as by means of a springwire. The film is moved by means of driven sprockets 4, engaging in thelateral perforations of the film 3. The film 3 is illuminated by thelamp 5, which is disposed in a box 6 provided with a diaphragm. By meansof light areas 3a of the programmed film, pulses are generated in thephotoelectric cell 7 and amplified in the amplifier 8, so that they aremade available to the hydraulic driving section through the electricline 9.

According to one preferred form of the invention, the denier fluctuationprogramme can be drawn on a strip on the drawing board and betransferred from said strip with suitable magnification or reduction tothe film 3. Other possibilities consist in the recording of impulsesoriginating from -any radioactive source, and after any requiredcorrections as regards length and spacing, images of these pulses can beformed on the film as a black-and-white code. The recording in the formof rectangles has proved to be particularly advantageous, since severaltracks can be recorded on a single film, which tracks in their turn canbe combined and arranged one after the other as desired.

The film 3 can be provided at the leading and trailing ends withadditional markings which initiate pulses inl additional photoelectriccells for reversing the direction of4 travel and possibility foradditional lateral displacement n asaaesa reservoir filled withhydraulic oil and the two circulation systems 11 and 12. In the system11, the oil flowing from the reservoir 10 is circulated by a first pump13, which is driven by an electric motor 14. The pipe on the deliveryside of the first pump 13 is split into two circulation systems 15 and16. Arranged in the pipe 15 is an electromagnetic valve 17 which iscontrolled by the pulses of the elctric line 9 and which interrupts theoil circulation returning to the reservoir 10 according to the requiredfiuctuations in denier.

The circulation system 12 is fed by a pump 18, which is driven by anelectric motor 19. The pump delivery pipe 20 communicates on the onehand, through a non-return valve 21, with the pipe 16, and on the otherhand with a pipe 22, which opens through 4an adjustable pressurecontrolvalve 23 into the intake pipe of the pump 18, and finally feeds thehydraulic motor through the pipe 24. This motor 25 drives the spinningpumps of the spinning machine. The delivery line of the motor 25 returnsto the reservoir 10 by way of the adjustable pressure-control valve 26.

Filters for intercepting impurities can advantageously be included inthe circulation systems 11 and 12.

The hydraulic system shown in FIG. 2 operates as follows:

The pump 13 circulates oil in the system 11 through the valve 17, whichis open when no current is liowing. The electromagnetic valve is nowclosed at irregular intervals and for different periods of time byamplified pulses supplied by the electric line 9. As a consequence, theoil constantly delivered by the pump 13 is compelled to fiow through thenon-return valve 21 into the pressure system 24 supplied by the pump 18,and this Oil then drives the hydraulic motor 25 and thus the spinningpumps. By the combined oil quantities of the systems 16 and 2t), thehydraulic motor 25 is driven at a higher speed through the pipe 24, andthus also the volumetric pumps of the spinning machine, whereby theliakes or knops are produced.

The basic denier of the flake or knop yarns is adjusted in advance foreach spinning operation by means of the speed of the pump 18, which isadvantageously infinitely variable.

The number and the duration of pulses are determined by the programmetransmitter of FIG. l. The fiake denier is adjusted by means ofalterations in the delivery quantity of the pump 13. The fiake form canbe regulated within certain limits by means of the adjustable pressurecontrol valve 26, which is connected after the motor 25, this moreparticularly infiuen-cing the form of the pressure decrease of thepressure/ time curve. When a low pressure is set, the said fiank isbroader, whereas on the contrary it is steep when the pressure isadjusted to a high value, provided there are only infiexible members inall pressure lines, including those for the spinning composition.Therefore, if it is desired to produce knops with very marked limits, itis for example advisable, when spinning viscose, to replace the swannecks consisting of hard lead and which `are normally employed by swannecks made of stainless steel.

The adjustable pressure-control valve 23 in the pipe 22 ahead of thehydraulic motor 25 serves the purpose of protecting the said motor fromexcessively high pressure peaks. By suitable adjustment, it can also beused for infiuencing the pressure peak in the pipe leading to thehydraulic motor 25.

The following example describes one form of the invention, when spinningknop yarns from viscose.

Example A viscose with a content of 9% of tnt-cellulose and 6% of sodiumhydroxide produced by xanthation of alkalicellulose with of carbondisulphide, based on a-cellulose, with a viscosity of 70 poises and asalt point of 6.5

CII

is spun in a Mller bath into a knop yarn, the count of which is 450denier (49.5 tex) and which is composed of individual filaments.

A 16 mm. eine film with a programme according to FIG. 3 is projected inthe apparatus shown diagrammatically in FIG. l. The magazine drums 1 and2 contain a film with a running period of 4 hours. After this time, thefilm is switched over to running in the opposite direction by lightmarks or indexes, which operate on photoelectric cells arranged in theregion of the driving sprockets 4, and at the same time a secondprogramme track not shown in FIG. 3 is scanned. As a result, the sameprogramme is only repeated every 8 hours. This time can be doubled bysubsequent rearward scanning of the entire programme, so that repeatingpattern formation in the fabrics produced from these yarns isimpossible.

The film runs at a speed of 0.6 m./minute. The pulse rate is 62 perminute.

The film is blackened, except for the programming 3a. The electricpulses generated by these light-pervious areas 3a of the film areamplified up to a peak value of 24 volts, and through the electric line9, these control the electromagnetic valve 17 of the hydraulic drivingsection of the volumetric pump shaft of the spinning machine, as showndiagrammatically in FG. 2. The mean working pressure in the pipe 24feeding the hydraulic motor 25 is 100 atm. gauge; the counteractingpressure produced by the adjustable pressure-control valve 26 is 5 atm.gauge.

The yarns which are produced have a mean count in the conditioned stateof 450 denier (50 tex). The thin areas have a mean count of 300 denier(33 tex) and the irregularly distributed fiakes have a minimum count of750 denier (83 tex), a mean count of 850 denier (94 tex) and a maximumcount of 1000 denier (lll tex).

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for making synthetic knop yarn comprising a pump adapted tosupply the spinning solution for producing said yarn, a hydraulic motorconnected to drive said pump, first hydraulic system including a pumpconnected to supply hydraulic fluid to said motor for actuating the sameat a pre-determined rate, a second hydraulic system including a pumphaving an outlet connected to supply additional hydraulic iiuid to saidmotor, valve means connected to control the supply of said additionalfluid from said second system to said motor, a travelling photographicfilm having a photographic track thereon, and means controlled by saidtrack for pulsing said valve at predetermined intervals for therebysupplying additional fluid to said motor adapted to periodicallyincrease the rate of said first pump for producing knops on said yarn.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said control valve isoperated electromagnetically and a light source and photocell arepositioned to be controlled by said track and are connected to controlsaid electromagnetically operated valve.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the pump in said secondsystem includes a return line and said valve is disposed in said returnline and is adapted to control the output pressure of said last pump andsaid last pump is connected to said hydraulic motor through a linehaving a non-return valve.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,696,266 12/1954 Tuve 103-118 X2,787,221 4/1957 Breazeale et al 264-167 2,904,957 9/1959 Quayle 60-192,917,897 12/1959 Schaffer 60-53 3,013,497 12/1961 Schneider 103-63,304,869 2/1967 Blume 250-202 WILLIAM L. FREEH, Primary Examiner.

